Sick Day

Little Miss Minion has a cough so she’s taking the day off from school and I’m using today to catch up on school. 🙂

In the next two weeks, I have a 100 point paper, a 100 point lab test, and a 125 point final exam. Oh, and my baby is turning 4!!!

The paper is kind of cool- we were given a test tube with two different bacteria in it and we had to run a bunch of tests on it to see what kind of bacteria was in there. I figured both of mine out after only two tests. One was Staphylococcus aureus and the other was Salmonella typhimurium. After we figure out what we have, we write a paper explaining the process and tests we used to determine the bacteria.

Anyway, hoping to get the paper outlined today and maybe work on my study guides for the two tests. So far, we’ve played with play doh, practiced writing letters, and watched some TV.

An Announcement

I cannot believe that Little Miss Minion will be 4 in a few weeks! Looking at her now, you would never guess that she started out fighting for her life at less than 2 pounds. Our journey began four years ago today in 2015, when I was admitted to the antepartum ward for observation of suspected preeclampsia. I remember being torn between complete denial that anything was wrong and terrified at the idea that something was. When Little Miss Minion arrived at 28 weeks, weighing one pound and fourteen ounces, my life was put on hold. Every day, Mr Minion and I would go to the hospital, scrub in at the NICU, and spend as much time as we could in our room there with our daughter. After 84 days, we were able to take our multi-million dollar baby home and I never wanted to see the NICU again. 

 

After about a year, I started to feel like I needed to give back to the place that had given me back my daughter. I began volunteering at the NICU that Little Miss Minion spent her first three months of life. I go into the unit, visit each room and speak to any parents who happen to be around. I’m also a board member of the organization. It’s something I’m very passionate about. 

 

About a year and a half ago, Mr Minion and I had a long talk. As corny as it sounds, I had been feeling a calling from the NICU. Not just to visit the parents and drop off goodie bags. To actually become one of the nurses who make such a difference in the lives of these babies and their parents. I’m proud to announce that I have been taking classes at our local community college in pursuit of a degree in Nursing. I have two more semesters to go before I can begin nursing school, which will take about two years of full time classes. After that, I hope to get a job working as a nurse in the NICU that started this journey for me. 

 

I would like to give Mr Minion a digital standing ovation. He has been so supportive of me during this venture and has willingly taken on the extra slack I leave from being in class and studying. Between books and fees and tuition, this little adventure isn’t cheap either, so it has been stressful trying to make the finances allow for it, especially for the upcoming period of nursing school. Little Miss Minion deserves some credit too. I take evening classes right now, so sometimes I only see her in the mornings and she doesn’t get to see me before she goes to bed, since I come home a little after she is asleep. 

 

Once I am accepted into the nursing program, I will qualify for nursing scholarships, which should lighten the financial load considerably. I applied for general scholarships this semester, but there are a lot more available once a person is accepted into the program. I’ve got Anatomy & Physiology I this fall, A&P II in the spring, and right now, I am finishing up Microbiology. I took Chemistry before that, and my first class in this little adventure was Human Biology. The rest of the degree requirements transferred from my Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. I only had 5 classes to take in order to shift my Bachelor’s in English into an Associate’s in Nursing. I’m just taking it 1 semester at a time. 

 

Sooooo, that’s my little announcement. Surprise! I wanted to really commit to this path before I announced anything, so very few people in real life actually knew about this. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to call me Mrs. Minion, RN. Wish me luck!